Rand: Ex-Vikings finding a sunset in Seattle

August 4, 2013 — 10:18pm

Ted S. Warren &#x2022; Associated PressCornerback Antoine Winfield, left, took a playful handoff from Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch during training camp. Winfield joins a list of several former Vikings who signed with Seattle late in their careers.

Packers fans like to tweak Vikings fans for pointing out Minnesota is nothing but a home for wayward Green Bay refugees the Packers no longer want on their roster. But aside from Brett Favre, Ryan Longwell, Darren Sharper, Robert Ferguson, Greg Jennings, Desmond Bishop … wait, never mind. They're right.

But if Minnesota is the home for ex-Packers, then colleague Pete Steinert has found the next step: When players are done with the Vikings, they wind up in Seattle. He targeted seven very good ex-Vikings, many of fairly recent vintage, who have matriculated to the land of rain and Starbucks. We had to look it up to be sure, but here they are:

Percy Harvin: The mercurial wide receiver, of course, was dealt to Seattle this past offseason after four often electrifying and sometimes frustrating years in Minnesota. At age 25, he still has a ton of good years left. This, however, might not be one of them since he will miss much of it because of a hip injury.

Antoine Winfield: The absence of the veteran Winfield in the Vikings' defensive secondary is a void that could linger through much of 2013. He was a Viking from 2004-12, a consummate pro, but his age (36) and injury history (23 missed games since 2007) made him expendable, and he landed with Seattle.

Sidney Rice: The receiver hasn't come close to producing like he did for the Vikings in 2009 since bolting for Seattle in free agency before the 2011 season.

Nate Burleson: Much like Rice, he had a big year for the Vikings (2004), another injury-plagued one with the purple after that, then signed a big deal with Seattle that didn't work out. He caught 136 passes in four seasons there before moving on to Detroit.

Associated Press file

After two seasons in Minnesota, Warren Moon moved to Seattle in 1997 and passed for 25 touchdowns.

Warren Moon: Now we're entering our Hall of Fame section. After two good years with the Vikings, the veteran put up an injury clunker at age 40 in 1996. The Vikings moved on, and he landed in Seattle in 1997 where Moon passed for 3,678 yards and 25 touchdowns.

John Randle: Don't forget, Randle played three pretty good years in Seattle after leaving the Vikings in 2000, including a Pro Bowl selection in 2001.

Carl Eller: The Purple People Eater played from 1964 to '78 with the Vikings … and then finished things off by going to Seattle for one final season.

Richard Pitino called his team's 37-point win over Georgia Southern a "major step forward," but not because of the point total. It was more how his players shared the ball against their overmatched nonconference opponents.